HISTORY:
At the October 19, 2016 City Commission meeting, the Commission referred a discussion item to the Neighborhoods Committee to review the possibility of signing the pledge and making Miami Beach a City of Kindness. On March 1, 2017 commission passed the items unanimously to officially become a City of Kindness.
City of Kindness is the growing center of the kind movement. It is a coalition of organizations working to inspire kindness in our world. The goal is to affect meaningful change among schools, professionals, young people, elected officials, and companies.
The kindness movement has been endorsed and promoted by many cities and celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, the Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga.
After review and analysis by the Neighborhoods Committee, it was recommended that the Communications Department work with Commissioner Steinberg to create a marketing campaign, perform community outreach and sign the pledge to become a city of kindness. The marketing and communications department has created a comprehensive marketing and communications plan targeted at both children and adults and encourages acts of kindness by everyone.
At the July 28, 2017 NCAC meeting, the NCAC recommended the referral of the approval of the City of Kindness marketing budget in the amount of $5,000 to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee.
The budget of $5,000 would go toward the purchase of kindness coins. After researching three different options, the Neighborhoods Committee recommended the purchase of customized and traceable coins. The City of Miami Beach Information Technology department would then work with the communications team to create a tracking tool to place on a page of our website where a person would log their act of kindness with this coin and then pass the coin on to someone else to do something kind as well.